France struggling to cope with record number of asylum requests

France doesn't get as many asylum requests as Germany or Sweden, but it still saw a big jump last year. Almost 80,000 people applied for asylum in France in 2015, up 22% on the previous year, and officials are overwhelmed by the number of requests. In November, a law aimed at speeding up and streamlining the processing of applications came into force. But several rights groups say more needs to be done, with the situation particularly difficult in and around Paris.